House military spending bill will impact First Coast

Friday

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a multibillion-dollar defense spending bill on Thursday that includes nearly $200 million for Northeast Florida military projects.

But the money isn't flowing yet. The Senate has yet to pass its version of the legislation and fall is the soonest Congress will be ready to send a bill to the president.

The future also is uncertain because the $636.6 billion measure contains several big-ticket items the Obama administration has said it strongly opposed.

But U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., was plenty excited after the bill's 400-30 passage, saying it will preserve jobs across the nation and locally.

The measure is unrelated to a previous House bill to provide funding for dredging for an aircraft carrier at Mayport Naval Station.

"Defense is one of the most important things we do and ... this bill makes America stronger," Crenshaw said.

The measure adds $142 million toward the development of three Navy E-2D Hawkeye aircraft in 2010, saving 100 jobs that could have been lost after Congress cut the funding to two aircraft last year. It brings the total for the program to $649 million.

"I certainly wouldn't say that's anything like pork," Crenshaw said.

The bill also contains millions for Jacksonville companies involved with the Navy's next-generation patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, the new Virginia-class attack submarine and a gun for the Navy's frigates, among other projects.

While the Democratic-controlled House went along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plans to kill the over-budget F-22 fighter jet, it rejected his efforts to cut off several other big-ticket items, The Associated Press reported.

The bill contains money for a much-criticized new presidential helicopter fleet, cargo jets that Gates says aren't needed, and an alternative engine for the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that the Pentagon says is a waste of money.

It also contains $128 billion for Pentagon operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would bring the total appropriated by Congress for those wars and other efforts to combat terrorism above $1 trillion. The bill rejects President Barack Obama's $100 million request for the Pentagon to close Guantanamo Bay.

The items Gates seeks to kill would eliminate possible jobs in such states as Georgia, Texas, California, Connecticut, New York, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Times-Union was unable to reach U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., for comment about the bill's impact in Southeast Georgia.